Chocolat Chaud à la Pierre Hermé
From It Must've Been Something I Ate, by Jeffrey Steingarten
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup bottled still water
1/4 cup (generous) superfine granulated sugar
1 100 gram bar (3.5 ounces) dark bittersweet chocolate, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, or Lindt (see note, below), finely sliced with a serrated bread knife
1/4 cup (1 ounce or 28 gram) cocoa powder, loosely packed, preferably Valrhona
Instructions:
In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the milk, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the chopped chocolate and the cocoa and bring to a boil again, whisking until the chocolate and cocoa are dissolved and the mixture has thickened. Reduce the heat to very low.
Blend for 5 minutes with an immersion mixer or whirl the hot chocolate in a standard blender for half a minute, until thick and foamy.
Yield: Four 6-ounce cups of hot chocolate.
Jefferey Steingarten's Note: I use a dark chocolate containing close to 70 percent cocoa, though Lindt bittersweet also works just fine. The Mayans and the Aztecs considered the froth the best part. Today, five minutes with an immersion mixer or a blender accomplishes what a half hour of beating did long ago.
**Sai's note:** You'll probably notice that this recipe is fussy and expensive. Yes, by all means make it this way to the tee to have an absolutely divine cup of hot chocolate, but to the normal Gaian, using bottled water and sawing your estate single origin chocolate with a serrated bread knife is probably a little TOO hoity toity.
Here's an easy way to make a fantastic cup of hot chocolate without the fuss. It's the same basic principle as Monsieur Hermé's or Mr. Steingarten's, but without the frou.
Simply put milk into a heavy sauce pan. 2% is fine, use whole if you want something approaching milkshake rich, I would avoid skim. Water is better than skim. Skim milk is for people who like to punish themselves and don't really like to eat. Soy milk is also okay, as is water which is the "European" way. I personally use a mix of milk and water.
Set milk on the stove top and let it come to a gentle boil. Turn heat to low and add good quality chocolate and cocoa chopped fine. Smaller, thinner pieces will melt easier and more evenly. Whisk vigorously until the chocolate has melted and the mixture has become smooth. Add sugar to taste. Cover and let steep for 5 minutes. Pour into mugs and enjoy with your favorite toppings!
You can pour the hot milk and chocolate mixture into a blender or a bullet mixer if you want to get the mixture even smoother and frothier, but its not strictly necessary. If you do, be careful! Boiling milk in a blender is nothing to mess with!
If you don't want to spring for good quality cocoa and chocolate, using this method over the "pour powder into cup of hot water and stir" method will still yield a better tasting cup. But I highly encourage people to try making hot chocolate with real chocolate and cocoa powder instead of Swiss Miss some time!
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